Service Designer (12-Month FTC/Secondment)

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Service Designer (12-Month FTC/Secondment)

Company: Lloyds Banking Group

Location: Manchester, United Kingdom

Job Type: Full-Time, Temporary

Category: Service Design / GTM Operations

Date Posted: June 10, 2026

Experience Level: Mid-Senior Level (5-10 years)

Remote Status: Hybrid

🚀 Role Summary

• This role focuses on shaping end-to-end service experiences within a dynamic innovation environment, bridging customer needs with business viability and technical feasibility.

• The Service Designer will lead discovery phases, synthesize complex insights, and develop comprehensive service blueprints and architectures.

• A key aspect involves facilitating cross-functional collaboration to align stakeholders and drive evidence-led decision-making in ambiguous situations.

• The position requires a strong understanding of technical and operational constraints, including responsible use of AI/LLM tools to enhance service design workflows.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the title is "Service Designer," the emphasis on "people, process, technology, and data," operating within an "innovation environment," and the "Group Innovation team within the GCOO organisation" strongly suggests a role with significant Go-To-Market (GTM) operational implications. The responsibilities align with understanding and optimizing the delivery of new services, which is a core function of GTM Operations and Revenue Operations in ensuring seamless customer adoption and value realization. The role bridges design with operational execution.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Lead design-led discovery initiatives, synthesizing customer, market, and data signals to identify and frame new service opportunities.

• Develop comprehensive end-to-end service blueprints, mapping dependencies across customer journeys, operational processes, technology platforms, and internal teams.

• Facilitate co-creation workshops and collaborative sessions, bringing together business, engineering, and customer perspectives to ensure desirability, feasibility, and viability.

• Apply hypothesis-led thinking and Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) frameworks, alongside lightweight experimentation, to guide product and service direction and validate assumptions.

• Design services while considering platform, API, and legacy system constraints, leveraging AI/LLM tools responsibly to accelerate design workflows and identify efficiencies.

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including product, engineering, marketing, and operations, to ensure seamless service implementation and customer adoption.

• Contribute to the definition and refinement of operating models and service scaling strategies to support new propositions.

• Utilize metrics and analytics to inform design decisions, measure service performance, and demonstrate value proposition and business model impact.

• Engage in speculative and future-back design approaches to explore emerging trends and anticipate future customer needs and market shifts.

• Provide coaching and craft leadership within innovation teams, fostering best practices in service design and user-centered methodologies.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a deep involvement in the GTM lifecycle, from initial discovery and validation of new propositions to the operational considerations for scaling. This role is crucial for ensuring that new services are not only desirable but also operationally sound and scalable, directly impacting revenue realization and customer satisfaction.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: Bachelor's degree in Design, Business, Computer Science, or a related field is typically expected, though equivalent practical experience in service design, innovation, or operations will be highly valued.

Experience: 5-10 years of progressive experience in service design, user experience (UX) design, product development, or a related innovation role, with a proven track record of shaping and launching new services or products.

Required Skills:

• Design-Led Discovery & Insight Sensemaking: Demonstrated ability to lead exploratory research, synthesize diverse data streams (customer feedback, market trends, operational data), and articulate clear problem statements and opportunity spaces, especially in situations with limited initial information.

• End-to-End Service Architecture & Systems Thinking: Expertise in creating detailed service blueprints, customer journey maps, and systems diagrams that illustrate user flows, operational touchpoints, technological dependencies, and cross-team interactions.

• Decision Leadership & Experimentation: Proficiency in applying hypothesis-driven methodologies, such as Jobs To Be Done (JTBD), lean experimentation, and A/B testing, to validate concepts and inform critical product and service development decisions.

• Technical & Operational Awareness: Understanding of software development lifecycles, platform capabilities, API integrations, and legacy system constraints. Experience in responsibly incorporating AI/LLM tools to enhance design processes and efficiency.

• Co-Creation & Collaborator Facilitation: Strong skills in facilitating workshops and collaborative sessions that effectively bring together diverse stakeholders (e.g., business strategists, engineers, customer support, marketing) to achieve alignment and consensus on service design and implementation.

Preferred Skills:

• Value proposition and business model design expertise.

• Experience with operating model design and strategies for scaling services effectively.

• Familiarity with speculative or future-back design methodologies for anticipating future trends.

• Experience in coaching and leading design craft within innovation or agile teams.

• A strong outcome-focused mindset, with the ability to define, track, and interpret key metrics and analytics to drive performance.

📝 Enhancement Note: The required skills emphasize a practical, hands-on approach to service design that directly interfaces with operational realities and business objectives. The preferred skills indicate a desire for a candidate who can also contribute strategically to the business model and operational scaling of new ventures.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Showcase a minimum of 3-5 end-to-end service design projects that demonstrate a clear understanding of the design process from discovery to implementation.

• Each project should clearly articulate the problem statement, the user and business insights gathered, the design methodologies employed (e.g., JTBD, journey mapping, service blueprints), and the rationale behind key design decisions.

• Include examples of systems thinking, illustrating how the designed service interacts with existing technology, operational processes, and data flows.

• Demonstrate the application of experimentation or hypothesis testing to validate design concepts and inform iteration.

• Clearly present the outcomes and impact of your work, using relevant metrics where possible to quantify improvements in customer experience, operational efficiency, or business value. Process Documentation:

• Provide examples of how you have documented service designs, including detailed service blueprints, user flows, and interaction specifications.

• Illustrate your approach to synthesizing research insights into actionable design principles or frameworks.

• Showcase how you have contributed to or documented operational processes that support the end-to-end delivery of a service.

• Include examples of how you have utilized or documented the use of tools (including AI/LLM) to streamline or automate aspects of the design or discovery process.

📝 Enhancement Note: A strong portfolio is critical for this role. It should not just showcase design artifacts but also the strategic thinking, process rigor, and operational awareness behind them, aligning with GTM and Revenue Operations expectations for tangible business impact.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: £61,344 - £68,160 per annum.

Benefits:

• Pension: Generous contribution of up to 15% from the employer.

• Bonus: Annual performance-related bonus.

• Share Schemes: Includes free shares, offering potential for long-term financial growth.

• Lifestyle Adaptations: Access to a range of benefits that can be adapted to personal needs, such as discounted shopping.

• Holiday: 30 days of annual leave, in addition to bank holidays.

• Wellbeing: Comprehensive wellbeing initiatives and support programs.

• Parental Leave: Generous parental leave policies.

Working Hours: Full-time, approximately 40 hours per week. The working pattern is hybrid, requiring at least two days per week (40% of time) in the Manchester office. Occasional travel to other group locations (e.g., Leeds, London, Edinburgh) may be required.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range is competitive for a mid-senior level Service Designer role in the UK financial sector. The comprehensive benefits package reflects Lloyds Banking Group's commitment to employee well-being and financial security, which are attractive factors for operations professionals seeking stable, long-term opportunities. The hybrid model offers a balance between structured collaboration and personal flexibility.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Financial Services. Lloyds Banking Group is one of the UK's largest financial institutions, offering a wide range of banking and financial services. This context means a strong emphasis on regulation, security, customer trust, and digital transformation.

Company Size: Large Enterprise (typically >10,000 employees). This scale implies robust processes, structured career paths, and significant opportunities for impact, but also potential for bureaucracy.

Founded: Established in 2009 through the merger of Lloyds TSB and HBOS, with a history tracing back much further through its constituent banks. This long heritage provides stability and a deep understanding of the UK market.

Team Structure:

• The role sits within the Group Innovation team, which operates within the GCOO (Group Chief Operating Officer) organisation.

• This structure suggests a focus on operational excellence, efficiency, and the strategic implementation of new ideas and services across the group.

• The team likely comprises individuals with diverse backgrounds in design, product, technology, strategy, and operations, working in a fast-paced, startup-like environment.

• Collaboration is expected to be highly cross-functional, involving teams from various business units, IT, and potentially external partners. Methodology:

• Experimentation and Validation: The team's core methodology involves rapid exploration, testing customer desirability, business viability, and technical feasibility through iterative experimentation.

• Agile & Lean Principles: The "startup-like environment" and focus on MVP (Minimum Viable Product) and scaling suggest adoption of agile and lean principles for efficient delivery.

• Data-Driven Decision Making: Emphasis on using metrics and analytics to guide decisions and measure the success of new propositions.

• User-Centricity: A strong focus on understanding and meeting customer needs as a primary driver for innovation.

Company Website: https://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/

📝 Enhancement Note: The placement within the GCOO organization and the Group Innovation team highlights that this role is not purely about aesthetic design but about operationalizing innovation. The focus on "scalable outcomes" and "bringing ground breaking concepts from idea to delivery" directly links service design to GTM and operational readiness.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is positioned at a mid-to-senior level, equivalent to an experienced specialist or lead within a design or innovation function. It requires a blend of deep craft expertise in service design and the ability to influence strategic direction and operational execution.

Reporting Structure: The Service Designer reports into the Group Innovation team, likely to a Head of Innovation or a Senior Innovation Lead. This structure provides exposure to senior leadership within the GCOO organization and allows for direct contribution to strategic initiatives.

Operations Impact: The Service Designer has a significant impact on the Group's ability to launch new, successful services. By ensuring services are well-designed from an end-to-end perspective (people, process, technology, data), they directly influence customer adoption, operational efficiency, revenue generation, and competitive positioning. Their work in validating new propositions also minimizes the risk of investing in unviable initiatives.

Growth Opportunities:

• Specialization: Deepen expertise in specific areas like AI-driven service design, complex financial product innovation, or scaling operational models for new ventures.

• Leadership: Progress into roles like Senior Service Designer, Innovation Lead, or Service Design Manager, mentoring junior designers and leading larger innovation projects.

• Cross-Functional Mobility: Opportunities to move into related GTM operations, product management, or strategic initiatives roles within the GCOO or other business units, leveraging a broad understanding of service delivery.

• Skill Development: Continuous learning opportunities through internal training, workshops, conferences, and exposure to cutting-edge technologies and methodologies within the Group Innovation team.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role offers a unique blend of design and operational strategy. Growth potential lies in becoming a leader in operationalizing innovation within a large financial institution, directly contributing to its future revenue streams and market position.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Hybrid. Employees are expected to work from the Manchester office for at least two days per week (40% of their time), with the remainder of their work conducted remotely. Occasional travel to other LBG locations is also required.

Office Location(s): Manchester, United Kingdom (Westminster House). This location is a key hub for Lloyds Banking Group, suggesting a well-equipped and professional office environment.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Hub: The office space is designed to facilitate hybrid working, likely offering meeting rooms, hot-desks, and collaborative zones to support team interaction and co-creation sessions.

• Technology Enabled: Access to the necessary technology and tools to support both in-office and remote work, including robust connectivity, AV equipment for hybrid meetings, and company-provided hardware.

• Team Interaction: The hybrid model encourages intentional in-person collaboration for key activities such as workshops, sprint reviews, and team-building, fostering a strong sense of team cohesion despite geographical distribution.

Work Schedule: Standard full-time hours (approx. 40 hours/week), with a hybrid arrangement providing flexibility. This structure allows for focused deep work remotely and collaborative sessions in the office.

📝 Enhancement Note: The hybrid work model is standard for many large organizations post-pandemic. For an operations-focused design role, the emphasis on intentional collaboration in the office for specific activities is crucial for effective GTM strategy development and alignment.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: Application and CV review, potentially followed by a brief screening call with HR or a recruiter to assess basic fit and interest.

• Portfolio Review & Presentation: Candidates will likely be asked to present their portfolio, focusing on 1-2 key projects that best demonstrate their skills in service design, systems thinking, and operational awareness. Expect to discuss your process, decisions, and outcomes.

• Skills-Based Interviews: Interviews with members of the Group Innovation team (e.g., Innovation Leads, Senior Designers, Product Owners) to assess practical skills through scenario-based questions, case studies, and discussions about your experience.

• Cross-Functional Panel/Hiring Manager Interview: A final interview, potentially with the hiring manager or a panel including representatives from business, technology, or operations, to evaluate cultural fit, strategic thinking, and overall suitability for the role and team dynamics.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Structure for Impact: Organize your portfolio to clearly showcase the end-to-end service design process for each project. Use a consistent structure: Problem -> Insights -> Solution (Design Artifacts) -> Rationale -> Outcomes (Metrics).

• Highlight Operations Integration: Explicitly demonstrate how your service designs consider people, process, technology, and data. Show service blueprints that map operational touchpoints and dependencies.

• Quantify Results: Whenever possible, use metrics to demonstrate the impact of your work. For example, improvements in customer satisfaction scores, reduction in operational costs, increase in conversion rates, or speed to market for new services.

• Tell a Story: Frame your projects as compelling narratives. Explain the challenges you faced, the decisions you made, and the lessons learned. Be prepared to discuss your role and contributions clearly.

• Showcase Collaboration: Include examples of how you facilitated co-creation and collaborated with diverse stakeholders.

Challenge Preparation:

• Service Design Challenge: Be prepared for a hypothetical scenario where you might be asked to outline your approach to designing a new service or improving an existing one, considering the constraints of a large financial institution and the need for operational scalability.

• Systems Thinking Exercise: You may be asked to map out or describe the interactions within a complex system, demonstrating your ability to see the bigger picture and interconnectedness of different components.

• Problem-Solving Scenarios: Prepare to discuss how you would approach ambiguous problems, synthesize incomplete information, and lead teams to make evidence-led decisions.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process emphasizes a practical demonstration of skills through portfolio presentation and scenario-based questions. For this role, it's crucial to highlight not just the design output but the operational thinking and GTM considerations that underpin successful service launches.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Design & Prototyping: While not explicitly stated, expect proficiency with standard design tools such as Figma, Sketch, Adobe Creative Suite, or similar platforms for creating mockups, wireframes, and prototypes.

• Collaboration & Whiteboarding: Tools like Miro, Mural, or Confluence for virtual whiteboarding, workshop facilitation, process mapping, and documentation.

• Project Management: Familiarity with Agile project management tools like Jira, Asana, or Trello to track progress and manage tasks within the innovation lifecycle.

Analytics & Reporting:

• Data Analysis Tools: Exposure to tools for analyzing customer data, operational metrics, and market trends. This could include SQL, Tableau, Power BI, or Google Analytics, depending on the team's specific stack.

• Metrics Definition: Experience in defining Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for new services to track adoption, performance, and business impact.

CRM & Automation:

• CRM Systems: While not a direct CRM role, understanding how services integrate with or impact customer data within CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics) is beneficial.

• Process Automation: Awareness of how automation technologies and workflows (potentially within LBG's existing enterprise systems) can support service delivery and improve efficiency.

• AI/LLM Tools: Explicitly mentioned, expect to use and understand the application of AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) to accelerate service design workflows, generate insights, or automate routine tasks within the design process.

📝 Enhancement Note: The mention of AI/LLM tools is a key differentiator. Candidates should be prepared to discuss their experience and vision for leveraging these technologies in service design and operational contexts. Understanding how services integrate with broader enterprise systems is also critical for a role within a large financial institution.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Customer Centricity: A fundamental value at Lloyds Banking Group, driving all decisions to ensure services meet customer needs and enhance their experience.

• Integrity & Trust: As a financial institution, maintaining high ethical standards, transparency, and security is paramount in all operations and service designs.

• Collaboration & Teamwork: The Group emphasizes working together across functions and departments to achieve common goals, especially critical in the innovation and GTM space.

• Efficiency & Effectiveness: A drive towards optimizing processes, leveraging technology, and delivering scalable outcomes that are both efficient to run and effective in achieving business objectives.

• Innovation & Continuous Improvement: Fostering a culture where new ideas are welcomed, tested, and continuously refined to adapt to market changes and customer expectations.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-functional Integration: The team operates by bringing together diverse expertise, so expect a highly collaborative style where input from business, technology, data, and operations is valued equally.

• Open Communication: Encouragement of open dialogue, constructive feedback, and transparent sharing of information to ensure alignment and address challenges proactively.

• Agile & Iterative: A working style that embraces iterative development, regular feedback loops, and adaptability to changing requirements or insights gained during experimentation.

• Outcome-Oriented: A focus on delivering tangible results and demonstrating value, rather than just completing tasks. Success is measured by the impact on customers and the business.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on integrity, trust, and customer-centricity, combined with a drive for efficiency and innovation, shapes the operational ethos of the team. Candidates should demonstrate how their design approach aligns with these core values.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Navigating a Large Organization: Balancing the fast-paced, experimental nature of innovation with the established processes, risk frameworks, and regulatory requirements of a large financial institution.

• Ambiguity & Uncertainty: Working in new or uncharted territory where clear data or established paths may not exist, requiring strong problem-solving skills and comfort with ambiguity.

• Scaling Innovation: Translating successful prototypes or MVPs into scalable, sustainable services that integrate seamlessly with core banking systems and operations.

• Cross-functional Alignment: Ensuring buy-in and effective collaboration across numerous departments with potentially competing priorities or different working styles.

• Responsible AI Integration: Effectively leveraging AI/LLM tools while adhering to ethical guidelines, data privacy regulations, and ensuring responsible deployment.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Expertise in Financial Services Innovation: Gaining deep insights into the unique challenges and opportunities of innovating within the regulated financial services sector.

• Advanced Design Methodologies: Opportunity to hone skills in areas like speculative design, service blueprinting for complex systems, and advanced experimentation techniques.

• Operationalizing New Technologies: Hands-on experience in integrating cutting-edge technologies, such as AI/LLMs, into operational service delivery frameworks.

• Strategic Influence: Developing the ability to influence senior leadership and shape the strategic direction of new service development and GTM strategies.

• Mentorship: Potential for mentorship from experienced innovation leaders and exposure to a broad network of professionals across Lloyds Banking Group.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role presents a significant opportunity to tackle complex, high-impact challenges at the intersection of innovation and operations within a major financial group. The growth path is geared towards developing strategic leadership in operationalizing new ventures.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you had to design a service for a highly regulated industry. How did you balance innovation with compliance?" (Focus on process adherence, risk mitigation in design.)

• "Walk me through your process for leading a design-led discovery phase for a new digital service. What key insights would you prioritize gathering?" (Highlight discovery methods, sensemaking, and opportunity framing.)

• "How would you approach designing a service that requires significant integration with legacy systems and multiple operational teams? What are the key dependencies you'd map?" (Emphasize systems thinking, service blueprints, and operational awareness.)

• "Describe a situation where you used hypothesis-led thinking or experimentation to guide a product or service decision. What were the results?" (Showcase JTBD, experimentation skills, and evidence-led decision making.) Company & Culture Questions:

• "What interests you about working for Lloyds Banking Group and specifically within the Group Innovation team?" (Research LBG's purpose, values, and recent innovation initiatives.)

• "How do you see your role as a Service Designer contributing to the operational success and scalability of new propositions?" (Connect design with GTM operations, efficiency, and revenue.)

• "Describe your experience working in a hybrid environment. How do you ensure effective collaboration and communication with your team?" (Highlight strategies for hybrid collaboration and team cohesion.)

• "How do you approach using AI/LLM tools in your design process? What are the ethical considerations you keep in mind?" (Demonstrate responsible application of new technologies.) Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Select Relevant Projects: Choose 1-2 projects that best showcase your end-to-end service design capabilities, systems thinking, and operational considerations.

• Focus on Process & Impact: Clearly articulate your design process, the rationale behind your decisions, and the measurable impact (business, customer, operational) achieved.

• Showcase Collaboration: Be ready to discuss how you worked with diverse stakeholders and facilitated co-creation.

• Concise & Engaging: Present your work clearly and concisely, using visuals effectively and telling a compelling story about each project. Be prepared for detailed questions about your contributions and decision-making.

📝 Enhancement Note: Preparation should focus on demonstrating how your service design skills translate into tangible operational outcomes and contribute to the business objectives of a large financial institution. Highlighting experience with regulatory environments and responsible technology use will be beneficial.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this operations-adjacent Service Designer position:

• Submit your application through the provided link on the Lloyds Banking Group careers portal.

• Curate Your Portfolio: Select 1-2 key projects that best exemplify your end-to-end service design process, systems thinking, and ability to consider operational implications. Ensure your portfolio clearly articulates the problem, your approach, the solutions, and the quantifiable outcomes.

• Tailor Your CV: Highlight experience in service design, innovation, systems thinking, cross-functional collaboration, and any exposure to financial services or regulated environments. Use keywords from the job description.

• Prepare Your Presentation: Practice presenting your chosen portfolio projects, focusing on storytelling, clear articulation of your process, and demonstrating the impact of your work. Be ready to discuss your approach to ambiguity and operationalizing new services.

• Research Lloyds Banking Group: Understand their purpose, values, recent innovations, and the role of the GCOO organization. Consider how your skills can contribute to their strategic goals.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and operations industry-standard assumptions. All details should be verified directly with the hiring organization before making application decisions.